STABILITY OF QUANTITATIVE TRAITS IN QUINOA (CHENOPODIUM-QUINOA)

The stability of various descriptive characters was studied over a 5-y ear period in 14 lines Of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) to determ ine the most appropriate time in a breeding programme when selection f or these characters could be performed, and which lines could serve as potential parents. Various measures of stability were employed to ana lyse these data, including those proposed by Francis and Kannenberg (1 978) and Lin and Binns (1988), appropriately modified for the purpose of this investigation. From these results it was concluded that select ion for height, inflorescence size and developmental stage could be sa tisfactorily performed at an early stage of the breeding programme. Fo r saponin content, however. the measuring techniques available were to o insensitive to enable a recommendation to be made. Potential parents were identified in this material for use in the development of variet ies suitable for North European conditions.